Dr. Henry S. (“Hank”) Parker, PhD, is an adjunct associate professor who, since 2009, has taught a course on agroterrorism and food defense in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He is also a writer and lecturer on a variety of scientific and natural history topics, with a goal of encouraging non-scientists to better appreciate and understand science. His debut novel, CONTAINMENT (a bioterror thriller), was published by Simon & Schuster (Touchstone imprint) in January 2017.
Hank holds a Ph.D. in biological oceanography and was formerly a research manager and Acting Director of Homeland Security for the Agricultural Research Service of USDA; a university professor of marine sciences; a U.S. Naval officer and deep-sea salvage diver; a seaweed farmer in the southern Philippines; and co-leader of an expedition that discovered and recovered remains of a 17th century Spanish Manila galleon. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Sue.